Poultry holding mechanism with improved wing hooks

ABSTRACT

A stretching mechanism of a device for cutting slaughtered poultry, said mechanism being provided with a support member with a support face for the bird, with means to hang the bird by the legs, with fixed hooks for the wings of the bird and with movable wing hooks cooperating therewith and with means to hold the trunk of the bird on the support face, said holding means including a movable centering fork, which is operable to engage the spine of the bird at the inside of the trunk and which is vertically and horizontally movably guided in guide slots in the support member between an inoperative position and an operative position by means of a guide bar and two transverse bars fixed thereto. According to the invention the movable wing hooks are provided with a take-up member for the wings of the bird and with a cam surface, which during the movement of the centering fork cooperates forcedly with a part fixed to the centering fork, such that the take-up member is open in the inoperative position of the centering fork and cooperates with the fixed wing hook in the operative position of the centering fork.

REFERENCE TO RELATED CASES

This specification discloses improvements to the apparatus disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 4,406,037 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,002 both of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

The present invention relates to a stretching mechanism of a device forcutting slaughtered poultry, said mechanism being provided with asupport member with a support face for the bird, with means to hang thebird by the legs, with fixed hooks for the wings of the bird and withmovable wing hooks cooperating therewith and with means to hold thetrunk of the bird on the support face, said holding means including amovable centering fork, which is oparable to engage the spine of thebird at the inside of the trunk and which is vertically and horizontallymovably guided in guide slots in the support member between aninoperative position and an operative position by means of a guide barand two transverse bars fixed thereto.

Such a stretching mechanism is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,002. Inthis earlier proposed stretching mechanism the fixed wing hooks whichare fastened to the support member cooperate with the movable wing hookswhich are fastened to triangular supports of the centering fork on theguide bar. The bird is firstly hung by its knee-joints onto U-shapedsuspension hooks and the wings are hooked below the fixed wing hooks.When the centering fork moves to its operative position, the wings ofthe bird are locked against the fixed wing hooks by the movable winghooks of the centering fork. However, with this mechanism the wings ofthe bird should be pulled rearwardly by hand, which requires a rathergreat effort. This involves loss of time and reduces the production rateof the cutting device.

The present invention tends to abolish the disadvantages of the earlierproposed stretching mechanism.

This object is achieved in that in accordance with the invention themovable wing hooks are provided with a slotted member for the wings ofthe bird and with a cam surface, which during the movement of thecentering fork cooperates forcedly with a part fixed to the centeringfork, such that the slotted member is open in the inoperative positionof the centering fork and cooperates to hold a wing with the fixed winghook in the operative position of the centering fork.

By applying these measures, the wings of the slaughtered birds can behooked without effort in the slotted members of the movable wing hooksand can be released by the person loading the mechanism, whereafter themovable wing hooks swing into their operative positions where the wingsof the bird are locked in the slotted members of the movable wing hooksby the fixed wing hooks. Therewith an increase of the production rate ofabout 25% is obtained, i.e. that with the stretching head in accordancewith the invention about 300 birds more can be hung per hour than withthe earlier proposed stretching head in accordance with U.S. Pat. No.4,505,002.

The invention will be further elucidated with the aid of someembodiments of the basis of the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the stretching mechanism in accordancethe invention in the operative end position of the centering fork;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the stretching mechanism in accordance with theinvention in the inoperative or out-of-operation position of thecentering fork, and

FIG. 3 is a view of the centering fork in accordance with the arrow IIIin FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a movable wing hook of the stretching head inaccordance with the invention.

FIG. 5 is an upper view of the wing hook in accordance with FIG. 4, and

FIG. 6 is a lower view of the wing hook in accordance with FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an upper view of a fixed wing hook of the stretching head and

FIG. 8 is a front view of the fixed wing hook in accordance with FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a cam plate of the stretching head.

FIG. 10 is a side view of a pressing lever of the stretching head inaccordance with the invention and

FIG. 11 is a bottom view of the lever in accordance with FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The stretching mechanism or the stretching head in accordance with theinvention is provided with a frame 1 which comprises two parallel plates2 and 3 of strong, wear-resistant and preferably hygienic material,preferably nylon. Between the plates 2 and 3 two or more spacer elements4 and 5 are placed and the plates 2 and 3 are fixedly interconnected bybolts 6. If necessary, spacer rings are placed on the bolts 6 betweenthe plates 2 and 3. In the same manner as with the stretching mechanismin accordance with the U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,002 the plates 2 and 3 of theframe 1 are secured to the free end of a radial processing arm of adevice for cutting slaughtered poultry, said device being provided withvarious, for instance eight, processing arms with stretching headsdisposed in the configuration of a roundabout (not illustrated).

In FIG. 2, at their right-hand side surface, the plates 2 and 3 form theradial outer surface of the stretching head. The plates 2 and 3 areprovided with a support surface 7 and 8 respectively, for the back ofthe bird which extends along the major part of the height of the plates2 and 3. In the support surface 7, 8 recesses 9 and 10 are provided,into which knives for cutting loose parts of the slaughtered bird areadapted to move, and the knife to cut the bird longitudinally in twoparts can move through the slot 11 between the two support faces 7 and 8of the frame plates 2 and 3.

At its upper side the stretching mechanism is provided with a suspensiondevice comprising a double two-armed lever 12 and 13, which is pivotedon a transverse shaft 14, protruding through the plates 2 and 3, andsaid lever being provided at its outside with U-shaped suspension hooks15, 16 for the legs of the bird. At the inside, the levers are providedwith a pull spring 17, which at the one end is secured to the lever 12,13 and tends to turn same in counter-clockwise direction, and at theother end it is secured to a transverse pin 18. On the lever 12, 13transverse plates 19 and 20 are secured, which are fastened on therotatable transverse shaft 14 by means of nuts.

At both sides of the frame plates 2, 3 support blocks 21 are provided,which are secured by means of the continuous bolts 6. Between thesupport blocks 21 a shaft 22 is mounted, which is provided with a radialsupport arm 23, to which a transverse bar 24 is secured, carrying at itsupper end a support plate 25 for the rump parts and at its lower end asupport bar 26 for the trunk of the bird. At the free ends of thesupport bars 26, which are bent inwrdly, there is an inwardly anddownwardly directed pin 27 provided with a sharp tip. The pins 27 engageinto the trunk of the bird and hold same during and after cutting, sothat the parts do not fall out of the head before the stretching head isopened.

The stretching head according to the invention is provided with asymmetrical centering fork 28, which is movably guided in a planeperpendicular to the support surface 7, 8 in a plane parallel to theplane of the drawing in FIG. 2 the centering fork 28, in its operativeend position illustrate in FIG. 1 where it, engages the spin at theinside of the bird's trunk. The centering fork 28 moves from theinoperative position, illustrated in FIG. 2, via an opening in thebird's chest into its trunk in the operative position in accordance withFIG. 1.

The symmetric centering fork 28 is provided with two parallel teeth 29and 30 with a round cross-section having taperingly thinned sections 31and 32 respectively at their free end, said sections ending insemi-spherical heads 33 and 34 respectively, and which, in the operativeposition of FIG. 1, engage at both sides of the sectionally sharpV-shaped spine of the bird. From FIG. 3 it appears that the two parallelteeth 29 and 30, the tapered sections 31 and 32 and the semi-sphericalheads 33 and 34 define a narrow gap 35, having the same width along itsentire length. This gap 35 serves to let the knife (not illustrated)pass to cut the bird longitudinally in two halves. The gap 35 has awidth of about 5 mm and the knife has a thickness of about 3 mm. The twoparallel teeth 29 and 30 and/or the tapered sections 31 and 32 arepossibly flattened at the inside then. In the operative position of thecentering fork 28, the sharp V-shaped spine of the bird protrudes intothe gap 35.

By means of a square headed section 36 and 37 respectively, the teeth 29and 30 are secured onto triangular supports 38 and 39 respectively,which are welded or otherwise secured to a support plate 40, which ismounted on the lower end of a guide bar 41.

The guide bar 41 is provided with two parallel transverse bolts, theshanks of which provide bars 42 and 43, vide FIG. 2, which arevertically spaced. The upper transverse bar 42 is vertically slidable upand down in an upper straight slot 44 in the two frame plates 2 and 3,which is substantially parallel to the major part of the support surface7, 8 of the bird. The lower transverse bar 43 is slidable in a lowerslot 45 in the two frame plates 2 and 3, consisting of three straightsections 46, 47 and 48 which are parallel to the upper slot 44 and whichextend in a staggered manner relative to each other and areinterconnected by transition sections 49 and 50 of the same width. Theupper section 46 of the lower slot 45 is substantially aligned with theupper slot 44. The sections 47 and 48 are disposed where they will movethe guide bar 43 laterally when the fork moves from the operativeposition of FIG. 1 to the inoperative position of FIG. 2. During thismovement, there is an increase in the horizontal distance between thecentering fork 28 and the support surface 7, 8.

In the operative position of FIG. 1 the transverse bars 42 and 43 arelocated in the upper ends of the slots 44 and 45 respectively, and inthe inoperative position of FIG. 2 the transverse bars 42 and 43 arelocated in the lower ends of the slots 44 and 45 respectively, asappears from FIGS. 1 and 2. The course described by the centering fork28 upon its movement from the position of FIG. 2 into the position ofFIG. 1, is indicated at 51 in FIG. 2.

On the plates 2 and 3 at the outside near the support faces 7, 8 of thebird V-shaped levers 52 and 53, which are metal plates, are pivotallymounted on a transverse shaft 54, which is secured perpendicularly tothe plates 2, 3; vide particularly the FIGS. 10 and 11. The V-shapedlevers 52 and 53 are provided with U-shaped slots 57 of a predeterminedshape between the legs 55 and 56 of the V and are provided with anL-shaped bar 58 and 59 at the tip of the V, with which the short legs ofthe L are welded to the levers 52 and 53 and are directed inwardly,whereas the long legs of the L are directed upwardly and forwardlyrespectively. The end portions of the U-shpaed slot 57 include an angleof 90°.

In the open or inoperative position of the stretching head of FIG. 1 theone leg 55 of the V-shaped lever 52 is adjacent to the support block 21whereas the other leg 56 with its end face is almost contacted by theupper transverse bar 42, so that the levers are fixed in this position.

During the movement of the guide bar 41 with the fork 28 from theposition of FIG. 2 into the position of FIG. 1 the upper transverse bar42 engages into the slot 57 and turns the levers 52 and 53 in clockwisedirection about an angle of 90° into the position of FIG. 1, duringwhich the upper transverse bar 42 firstly moves into the slot 57 andthen out of the slot 57, so that the transverse bar 42 engages the endsection of the one leg 55 in the position of FIG. 1 at the inside of theslot 57 and therewith has also lifted the levers 12 and 13 at theright-hand side of the pivot shaft 14 over a small distance so as tosomewhat stretch the bird, which is put on the stretching head inlongitudinal direction in this position of the stretching head. Theshort legs of the L-shaped bars 58 and 59 are adjacent to the supportfaces 7 and 8 then, so that the levers 52 and 53 are also fixed in thisposition.

During stretching the bird on the stretching head in the position ofFIG. 2 the bird is hung by its knee-joints onto the U-shaped hooks 15and 16 and is placed against the support faces 7, 8 with its rump partsand its trunk between the support plates 25 and the support rods 26respectively. When the levers 52 and 53 are turned from the position ofFIG. 2 into the position of FIG. 1, as described above, the long legs ofthe L-shaped bars 58 and 59 move between the rump parts and press theseaway from each other, and, which is more important, also force thebottom of the bird down, so that it is not damaged or partially cut offby the knife which cuts the legs from the rump parts as described in theU.S. Pat. No. 4,406,037. These L-shaped bars 58 and 59 also providedthat the legs are cut off from the rump parts at the right place.

At opposite sides of the frame plates 2 and 3, camplates 60 and 61 aresecured on the transverse bars 42 and 43, which cam plates are providedwith a cam slot 62 and 63 respectively, through which the support arms23 protrude. Upon movement of the centering fork 28 from the inoperativeposition of FIG. 2 into the operative position of FIG. 1, the supportarms 23 are turned inwardly by the cam slots 62 and 63, so that thesupport plates 25 and the support bars 26 are forced onto the bird'srump parts and trunk respectively.

The shape of the cam plate 61 and the cam slot 63 is illustrated in FIG.9. The cam plate 60 has a similar shape, forming the mirror image ofthat of the cam plate 61 of FIG. 9. The cam plates 60 and 61 consist oftwo parts, vide FIG. 9, which are kept together by nuts screwed on thetransverse bars 42 and 44.

A mechanism 64 is provided for the centering fork 28, locking the forkin the operative position of FIG. 1. The locking mechanism 64 consistsof a locking bar 66, a tooth-shaped locking cam 68, and an unlocking pin70. The locking bar 66 is loaded by a compression spring 65, said barbeing pivotably mounted at 67 between the frame plates 2 and 3, thetooth-shaped locking cam 68 is secured to the guide bar 41 and in theoperative end position of the centering fork 28, it engages in a notch69 in the locking bar 66 the unlocking pin 70 cooperates with anunlocking cam 71 on the frame (not illustrated) of the cutting device.The tooth-shaped locking cam 68 has a somewhat smaller thickness thanthe distance between the plates 2 and 3 so that they guide the cam 68practically without tolerance and thereby the centering fork 28 is heldtransversely in the right position relative to the bird's spine.

Fixed wing hooks 72 and 73 respectively, are fastened to the plates 2and 3 at the outside on the front side, vide FIGS. 1, 2, 7 and 8. Eachof the fixed wing hooks consists of a section 74 fastened to the plates2 and 3 respectively, and a section 75 bent outwardly at an angle ofabout 75° relative thereto, said section 75 having rounded corners atits free end.

Approximately at the height of the support rods 26 for the bird's trunka two-armed lever 77 and 78 respectively, is mounted on a pivot shaft 76at the outside of the plates 2 and 3, said levers 77 and 78 beingsubstantially equal and being mounted in mirror image relative to oneanother; vide the FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. The levers 77 and 78respectively, are proveded with a transversely protruding strips 79 and80 respectively, on their lower arm at the outside near their frontedges. For a minor part each strip is perpendicular to the lever and themajor parts 81 and 82 of the strips are bent forwardly at an angle ofabout 45°. The parts 81, 82 of the strips 79, 80 are provided withvertical U-shaped slots 83 and 84 respectively, opening into their loweredges, the corners of the recesses between the legs of the U and thelower edges of the strips 79, 80 being strongly rounded, and the cornersat the end edge of the strips 79 and 80 being rounded too. The levers77, 78 with the strips 79, 80 form the movable wing hooks, as will beelucidated hereinafter.

The levers 77, 78 are provided with welded or brazed transverse strips85, 86 at their upper edges, and pins 87, 88 secured to the free endedge of the strips 85, 86. The lengths of the pins 87, 88 are such thatin closed or operative position of the stretching head they engagesbehind the transverse bar 24 for the support plates 25 and the supportrods 26 for the rump parts and the trunk respectively, of the bird, videFIG. 1, so that the rod cannot move outwardly.

The levers 77 and 78 are provided with cams 89, 90 and 91, 92 at theirrear edges and with rear faces 93, 94 which are operated by the lowertransverse bar 43, as will be elucidated hereinafter. In the closedposition of the stretching head of FIG. 1 the rear faces 93, 94 of thelevers 77 and 78 are located substantially flush with the front edge ofthe corresponding section 47 of the slot 45.

The function and operation of the levers 77 and 78 with the strips 79,80 and 85, 86 fixed thereto is as follows:

In the open or inoperative position of the stretching head of FIG. 2 thebird is hung by its knee-joints in the U-shaped suspension hooks 16, 16,supported with its back against the support face 7, 8 and the wings arehooked in the U-shaped recesses 83, 84 of the strips 79, 80. The cams89, 90 are supported against the lower transverse bar 43 and thetransverse strips 85 and 86 are almost supported against the front faceof the cam plates 60 and 61, so that the levers 77 and 78 are fixed in afixed position. Upon movement of the stretching head from the openposition into the closed or inoperative position, which is illustratedin FIG. 1, the guide bar 41 is moved upwardly together with the lowertransverse bar through the guide slot 45 and engages the rear face 93,94 of the levers 77 and 78 approximately at the height of the pivotshaft 76. This turns said levers into the vertical position in FIG. 1,in which the cams 91, 92 are supported by the transverse bar 43 and thestrips 85, 86 almost engage the rear side of the transverse bars 24, sothat the levers are fixed also in this position. In this position of thelevers 77 and 78 the strips 79 and 80 with the rcesses 83, 84 are turnedabove the fixed wing hooks 72, 73, so that the wings of the bird arelocked.

When the wings are cut off from the bird's trunk and the bird is cutotherwise into the desired pieces, as described in the U.S. Pat. No.4,406,037, the stretching head is opened in a manner to be describedhereinafter, in which the guide bar 41 with the transverse bar 43 ismoved downwardly. Owing to the path of the guide slots 45 the levers 77and 78 are not rotated and, consequently, the movable wing hooks 81, 82,83 and 84 are not turned away from the fixed wing hooks 72 and 73, untilthe transverse bar 43 is moved in the transition portion 50 of the guideslot 45 and thereafter in the straight end portion 48 of the guide slot45. The transverse bars 24 cannot be move outwardly with the supports 25and 26 until the pins 87 and 88 have released the transverse bars 24.Thereby it is achieved that the separate cut parts of the bird are heldon the stretching head as long as possible and that these parts cannotfall out of the stretching head too soon.

By using fixed wing hooks 72 and 73 respectively, in combination withthe movable wing hooks formed by the levers 77, 78 with the strips 79,80, the birds can be hung on the stretching head faster than with thestretching head in accordance with the U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,002, and anincrease of the production rate of about 25% can be obtained; i.e. thatwith the present stretching head approx. 300 birds more can be hung andworked up per hour than with the earlier proposed stretching head inaccordance with the U.S. Ser. No. 456,180.

At the lower end of the guide bar 41, opposite the centering fork 28, aroll 96, rotatable about a horizontal shaft 95, is secured. When thebird is hung with its legs in the hooks 15 and 16 and is hooked with itswings in the recesses 83, 84 in the movable wing hooks 79, 80, the roll96 arrives on a guide 97 after a certain rotation of the processing armof the cutting device (not illustrated), so that the guide bar 41 withthe centering fork 28 moves upwardly and simultaneously pivots inclockwise direction in FIG. 2, unitl it reaches the operative position,illustrated in FIG. 2 in dotted lines and in FIG. 1 in drawn lines.

At the inner side of the stretching device, near the lower edge of theframe plates 2 and 3, two freely rotatable rolls 98 are mounted on shaft99, secured in the frame plates 2 and 3. When centering fork 28 isbrought into the operative position, wherein also the support arms 23with the support plates 25 and the support rods 26 have to be forcedupon the slaughtered bird, said rolls 98 cooperate with a fixed guide100 on the frame of the cutting device (not illustrated) which preventsthe processing arm and/or other parts of the cutting device (notillustrated) from being permanently bent or otherwise deformed by thepressure of the guide 97 on the roll 96 when the centering fork 28 ismoved upwardly and the support arms 23 are forced inwardly.

For clarification's sake FIG. 1 shows in dotted lines a portion of thecentering fork 28 and the pertaining guide bar 41 in its inoperativeposition, whereas in FIG. 2 in dotted lines a part of the lockingmechanism 64 and the actuating cam 97 is illustrated in the operativeposition.

In the stretching mechanism of the invention the frame plates 2 and 3,the transverse bars 42 and 43, the roll 96 and the rolls 98 arepreferably made of nylon, whereas the remaining parts of the stretchingmechanism are preferably made of stainless steel.

Although in the above description a preferred embodiment of thestretching mechanism of the invention is described, wherein thecentering fork 28 is movably guided in two directions in the frameplates 2 and 3 of the support member, it is also possible in accordancewith the invention to mount the centering fork 28 in a fixed mannerrelative to the processing arm and to guide (a part of) the supportmember, on which the bird is stretched, by means od guide tracks andfollower rolls in a plane perpendicular to the support face 7, 8 in amovable manner in two directions relative to the fixed centering fork28. With such an embodiment (not illustrated) of the stretchingmechanism the same effect can be obtained as with the above describedpreferred embodiment, also illustrated in the drawing, of the stretchingmechanism of the invention.

I claim:
 1. A mechanism for holding slaughtered birds in a poultrycutting machine, comprising,a support member having a support face whichengages and supports a bird while the bird is being cut into pieces,means for holding the bird at a position where it lies against saidsupport member, wing hook means comprising a pair of stationary winghooks and a pair of movable wing hooks, each of said movable wing hooksbeing supported for movement from an open position spaced from astationary wing hook to a closed position at which a wing of a bird isheld between a movable wing hook and a stantionary wing hook, and meansfor moving the movable wing hooks between their open and closedpositions.
 2. A mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said movable winghooks are provided with slots for engaging the wings of a bird; saidslots being movable in a direction which moves the wings of a birdtoward said stationary wing hooks, stretches the bird and draws the birdtoward said support face when the movable wing hooks move from theiropen positions to their closed positions; said stationary wing hooksbeing positioned to retain the wings of a bird in said slots when themovable wing hooks are in their closed positions.
 3. A mechanismaccording to claim 1 wherein said stationary wing hooks are locatedbelow the wings of a bird on said support member, and said movable winghooks are located above the wings of a bird on said support member.
 4. Amechanism according to claim 1 having a centering fork which is movablefrom an inoperative position to an operative position where it extendsinto the trunk of a bird, said means for moving the movable wing hooksbeing operable in response to movement of the centering fork between itsinoperative and operative positions.
 5. A stretching mechanism of adevice for cutting slaughtered poultry, said mechanism being providedwith a support member having a support face for the bird, means forhanging the bird by the legs, fixed wing hook means and movable winghook means for engaging the wings of the bird, means for holding thetrunk of the bird on the support face; said holding means including amovable centering fork which is operable to engage the bird at theinside of the trunk on opposite sides of the spine, guide means forvertically and horizontally guiding the centering fork for movement,said movable wing hooks being provided with slotted members for engagingthe wings of the bird, cam means for moving the movable wing hooks inresponse to the movement of the centering fork to bring the slottedmembers to positions where the slots are open when the centering fork isin its inoperative position, said cam means being operable to bring theslotted members to positions where the slots are closed by the fixedwing hooks to hold a wing when the centering fork is in its operativeposition.
 6. A stretching mechanism in accordance with claim 5 whereinthe movable wing hooks comprise two-armed levers on both sides of thesupport member, each of said levers being pivotal in a planeperpendicular to the support member and having a said slotted member onits front side at its lower end, each said slotted member being aforwardly protruding wing holding strip having a slot in its lower edge,said cam means including cam surfaces on the rear side of each levernear its upper and lower ends, said centering fork having transverseguide bars attached thereto, said cam surfaces on said levers beingengageable by one of the transverse bars when the centering fork is inits inoperative position to hold the lower arms of the levers forwardlyat positions where the slots in the wing holding strips are freelyaccessible, said trasverse bar engaging the upper cam surfaces of thelevers when the centering fork is in its operative position to hold theupper arms of the levers at operative positions where the slots in theholding strips are obstructed by the fixed wing hooks to lock wings inposition, said support member haivng a guide slot within which saidtransverse guide bars are located.
 7. A stretching mechanism inaccordance with claim 6, a said lever having a rear surface which, whenthe lever is in its operative position, substantially coincides with thefront edge of the guide slot so that the transverse bar, during themovement of the centering fork from its operative position to itsinoperative position, prevents the lever from moving to its inoperativeposition until the transverse bar has passed the pivot axis of thelever.
 8. A stretching mechanism in accordance with claim 7,characterized in that a said lever is provided with a protruding pinmeans, located at its upper end, for holding the trunk of the bird onthe support face in position when the lever is in its operativeposition.